Skiving machine



June 27, 1961 l LEY 2,989,762

SKIVING MACHINE Filed May 17, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

June 27, 1961 N. H. MIDGLEY 2,98

SKIVING MACHINE Filed May 17, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 L IT IN V EN TOR.

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SKIVING MACHINE Filed May 17, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

June 27, 1961 N. H. MIDGLEY SKIVING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 17, 1960 United States Patent,

2,989,762 V SKIVING MACHINE Noel H. Midgley, 8 Hillside Ave., Caulfield, Victoria, Australia Filed May 17, 1960, Ser. No. 29,744 4 Claims. (Cl. 12-17) This invention relates to a skiving machine for irregularly shaped objects as, for example, shoe soles. In particular, it relates to an automatic skiving machine which has improved guidance and feed control for the blanks.

,Skiving machines are of various designs including the matrix type where a blank is out according to the pattern of the matrix. A typical skiving machine comprises a hard matrix roll, a conforming :feed means adjacent the matrix roll such as a revolving array of spring-loaded serrated feed discs interleaved with fixed spring-loaded pressure fingers or a rubber roll, and a knife blade positioned adjacent the exit side of the rolls so that when a blank is fed between the two rolls it is pushed against the knife and skived. On the feed side of the machine it is common with shoe soles to provide a stationary feed bed and a plate movable on the feed bed to push the single bottom blank out of the stack of blanks and direct it to the rolls. Generally, a lateral wall or fence is provided to hold the stock of blanks and guide the selected blank. Also, a transverse wall is provided so that the movable plate will only dislodge the bottom blank for delivery into the rolls of the machine.

In a typical cycle with such a machine as described, the guidance provided for the blank consists of the lateral fence, the forward end of the pushing plate and often a spring means on the opposite side. As the plate moves towards the rolls the blank is fed into the bite of the rolls. Where an object has two points of contact with the lateral fence such guidance is usually sufficient. However, where a long irregularly shaped object is to be handled as, for example, a shoe sole be it an inner sole or an outer sole, the guidance provided by the lateral fence is inadequate so that when the wide part is normally in the rolls, the rear part or heel part is likely to deviate from its desired course. In addition, these skiving machines of the prior art require a considerably large number of matrix designs to cover different shapes within a given shoe size.

In accordance with this invention I have found that for consistently accurate location and guidance the two lateral points of contact must be continuously maintained. Further, if the direction of the central waist and heel sec tion of the soles is maintained perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the axis of the roll I have found that the number of matrix designs required within a given size is considerably diminished and in many cases a single matrix is sufiicient. This is of great importance, not only for design, but because of expense since matrix designs are exceedingly costly.

The precision guidance and orientation of my invention is achieved generally by the use of two lateral fences spaced at different transverse distances to compensate for the difference in widths of the various portions of the blank and an auxiliary guiding member coupled to the pusher plate and arranged to be in line with the narrow width lateral fence. It is preferred for greatest effectiveness to also include means for holding the pusher plate and auxiliary guiding member for a finite period of time at its forward position, means for raising a submerged extension to said auxiliary member as said pusher plate begins to recede and means for submerging said extension before the pusher plate pushes the succeeding blank.

The means for holding the pusher plate for a finite period of time or dwell can be accomplished in a number of ways. A preferred way is to use a cam and spring the cams are preferably mounted on the shaft of the matrix roll so as to obtain the desired synchronization.

In a typical cycle the rotation of the matrix roll causes the pusher plate and auxiliary guiding member to move forward and select and push the bottom blank. As the roll revolves the blank moves forward towards the roll. The rear or heel section of the blank is. guided by the extension which is just below and flush with the rear lateral fence which is typically closer in to the center. Initially, the ball section of the sole is guided by the front lateral fence which is typically further out from center. The other blanks are prevented from moving by the transverse fence. As the toe part of the blank enters between the rolls it is conformed to the matrix and set against the fixed knife blade for skiving. As the wide part of the sole begins to enter the rolls the sole loses its contact with the front lateral fence. However, the rear part or heel section is maintained in steady contact with the auxiliary guiding member which slides below and in line with the edge of the back fence. After the pusher plate and auxiliary guiding member have gone forward so that most of the fore part of the sole blank has been through the skiving rolls, the dwell mechanism operates to stop the motion of the pusher plate. However, the bite of the rolls pulls the blank along and guidance is still provided by the auxiliary guiding member. Just about the time that the rear end of the blank is about to go beyond the end of the auxiliary guiding member the depressed ridge rises to form an extension of the auxiliary guiding member under the transverse fence and up to the matrix roll itself and the pusher plate assembly returns to its initial position. At the time that the pusher plate is just ready to start another cycle the cam on the roll is timed to again depress the ridge thus permitting the next blank to be slid along.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the description and claims which follow, with reference to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view looking from the rear of the feed side.

FIG. 2 is a partial top view of the feed side.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the front or cutting side of the machine.

FIG. 4 is a partialy broken away perspective showing the cam mechanism for dwell control.

FIG. 5 is a partial top view of the cam mechanism of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view limited to the cam mechanism for raising and lowering the extension of said auxiliary guiding member.

Referring now to the drawings the frame 11 houses a motor 12. The motor is connected by conventional means to a fly wheel 13 which in turn drives a gear box 14. The gear box is arranged to turn the matrix roll 15 clockwise and the finger pressure means 16 counterclockwise and thus send objects in the direction of the knife blade 17 positioned on the front side. The matrix roll has a design as may be desired which when cooperating with the knife will produce the desired slicing of the blank.

In the feed area there can be seen a fixed feed bed 18 and a sole blank 19. Only one blank is shown but it is understood that, normally, a stack of blanks is used. The blank 19 in its initial or rest position has its rear portion in contact with the slanted front end 23 of the pusher plate 20, its lateral heel portion in contact with the narrow edge 25a of auxiliary guiding member 25 mounted on the pusher plate frame 20a but located under the back lateral fence 30 and flush with the inner edge there of, and has its ball portion in contact with a front lateral fence 31 which is offset outwardly. The position of the front end 23 of the pusher plate is laterally adjusted by the knob 21 and longitudinally adjusted by the knob 22. The longitudinal position of guiding member 25 is adjusted by knob 26. Fences 30 and 31 are usually put in a single position for all sizes within a given shape. The transverse fence 32 has sufiicient clearance for only one blank but other than that gives no guidance to the bottom blank which is about to be moved. An adjustable spring guide 33 is arranged to exert pressure on the opposite side of the blank against the wide part of the fore part of the sole but is not in continuous guidance. The pusher plate assembly including the frame and knobs is mounted on a slide block 24.

The matrix roll has an extension of its axis connected to a split collar 44 housing a spring 46 engaging a cam slide 45. The slide in turn terminates in a pivot 41 which in turn holds arm 42. Arm 42 is in turn pivotally connected through pivot assembly 43 to crank arm 47. Crank arm 47 is pivotally attached to slide block 24. As the collar 44 rotates it tends to move the slide block 24 in a reciprocal fashion. However, a cam 48 is provided which is engageable with a wheel 49 on the pivot 41. As the wheel engages the cam it tends to compress the spring so there is temporarily no force on arm 42. This provides the stoppage or dwell of the pusher plate assembly at its forward stroke.

After the cam wheel is off the cam the pusher plate starts to retract. Simultaneously, another cam 50 mounted on the matrix roll shaft is arranged to have its depression 51 engage cam follower 52. Cam follower 52 is mounted on pivot 53 and is hingeably connected at pivot 54 to a vertical slide 55. The vertical slide 55 cooperates with slideway 56. At the bottom of the slide is a transverse extension 57 on which is mounted a ridge. This ridge is normally housed below the surface of the bed 18 and when elevated extends from a position just clearing the matrix roll to a position substantially in line with and abutting the extreme forward position of the guiding member 25. The action of the cam serves to raise the ridge 58 so that it acts as an extension of the guide member 25 to guide the narrow heel section of a blank.

While the preferred embodiment of my invention has been described in detail, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the particular construction set forth since various changes in the form, material, pro- .4 portions and arrangement of parts, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, of destroying any of the advantages contained in the same heretofore described and defined in the following claims.

For background information on matrix skiving machines and their use in making soles, reference is made to the following patents issued to the applicant:

US, 2,648,855 (1953) Canada, 497,487 (1953) Canada, 580,183 (1959) I claim: 1. In a skiving machine having a matrix roll cooperating with conforming feed means: a feed bed, pusher plate means slidably movable on said feed bed, and

separate back and front lateral fences spaced on one side of said bed; said pusher plate means including a pusher plate and a lateral guide member; said back fence having a bottom clearance; said front fence being flush with said feed bed and spaced further outwardly than said back fence; said guide member being slidably movable in said clearance and having its inner edge substantially flush with the inner edge of said back fence.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein means are provided to hold said pusher plate means in fixed position for a finite period of time at its most forward position, and means are provided to intermittently raise and lower a submerged lateral guide to form an extension of said guide member.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein cam means driven by the shaft of said matrix roll are provided to hold said pusher plate means in fixed position for a finite period of time at its most forward position and cam means driven by the shaft of said matrix roll are provided to intermittently raise and lower a submerged lateral guide to form an extension of said guide member.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said pusher plate means comprises a pusher plate frame, a pusher plate which is longitudinally and transversely adjustably mounted on said frame and a lateral guide member which is longitudinally adjustably mounted on said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

